Bruins have the look of a champion

Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins celebrates his goal at the end of the second period with teammate Reilly Smith against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 at TD Garden on April 26, 2014. (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images/AFP)

Mike Babcock knows a team built to challenge for the Stanley Cup year after year when he sees it — his Red Wings used to be one of them.

And now, after watching his current Detroit team bow out of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal with minimal resistance, Babcock sees some familiar signs of dynasty in the Boston Bruins.

“This team played like we used to in ’07, ’08, ’09,” Babcock said after his Wings scored just six goals in five games in a 4-1 series loss. “They’re a legit contender with good depth and good experience.

“They’re at the right time (in terms of payroll). I assume people are going to get paid around here and then that gets in the way.”

Just what gets in the way of these Bruins in these playoffs, remains to be seen. But based on their performance against the Wings, coach Claude Julien’s team has only legitimized its status of pre-playoffs Stanley Cup favourites.

Odds are partly hypothetical, of course, but in practical terms, there is a long list of reasons that the Bruins will not only return to the Cup final for a second consecutive spring, but will be hoisting the famed trophy when the gruelling playoff grind concludes.

“What’s so special is that there’s not any one thing,” said veteran Jarome Iginla, who surely wishes he had landed with the Bruins a year earlier rather than orchestrating a deal to Pittsburgh at the 2013 trade deadline.

“I think it’s a very close group, guys (who) have been through it before. They’re a very hungry and very competitive group.”

Following Saturday’s 4-2 series-clinching win at the TD Garden, Iginla marvelled at the experience and leadership on his new team. Whether it’s fourth-liners such as Shawn Thornton or an elite talent in the form of centre Patrice Bergeron, a behemoth blueliner in Zdeno Chara or the mix of physical brawn and talent of Milan Lucic, a proven leader is never more than two or three stalls away in the Bruins dressing room.

Then there is the Bruins’ depth. A rarity in today’s salary cap world, Julien is able to roll out four lines with effectiveness. In a long series, that can, and does, wear down an opponent, Thornton and linemate Gregory Campbell are prototypical role players who can be trusted to not be a liability while on the ice.

Throughout the series, Babcock moaned about how difficult it was to create open space against the Bruins, a credit to the system Julien implements, the way general manager Peter Chiarelli has sculpted a roster to make it work and ultimately the commitment of the players to enact it.

Perhaps future opponents won’t lose as many battles for loose pucks as the Wings did, but don’t bet on it. Once the opposition has the puck, good luck getting good scoring chances from high-percentage areas of the ice anyway. And on the rare occasions that they do, in Tuukka Rask, the Bruins certainly have one of the best goaltenders remaining in the playoffs.

After making short work of Detroit — following three consecutive years of seven-game series in the first round — the Bruins find themselves in what could be a favourable path to the title.

While the Montreal Canadiens will provide an emotional opponent in th second round, if the Bruins continue to improve as they did throughout the series with the Wings, they should have little difficulty advancing. Now look at the other bracket and try to make a strong case for any of the Penguins, Jackets, Rangers or Flyers prevailing against the B’s in a seven-game series.

Next up would be the Western Conference champion, a team that in all likelihood will have had a much tougher road to the final than the Bruins.

Yes, it’s just four wins down and 12 to go, but the Bruins have done nothing to lengthen their odds of winning the Cup. In fact, they have done the opposite.